


Broken Pieces Of People In a Dumpster On Fire

by PaleNoFace



Series: Tree Bros Adventures [18]
Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Evan Hansen Has Anxiety, Everyone Is Gay, Friends Are Weird, Good Boyfriend Connor Murphy (Dear Evan Hansen), He's worried, Jake Dillinger's Halloween Party, Jared Kleinman Tries, McDonald's, Multi, Panic Attacks, Rich Goranski Sets Fire to Jake Dillinger's House, Shants, Social Anxiety, Song: Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire) (Be More Chill), big parties aren't their thing, he cares okay, lemme sleeb, that's a thing yes, they're just a weird bunch of kids trying to survive high school man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22780906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaleNoFace/pseuds/PaleNoFace
Summary: "It's not even a good party," he grumbles at the attention of his plastic cup.It's a big fat lie. It's the best party of the fall, courtesy of Jake, and every teen in town seems to be there - and yet, somehow, Jared still can't get his hands on anyone he knows.
Relationships: Alana Beck/Zoe Murphy, Evan Hansen/Connor Murphy, Jared Kleinman/Original Character(s)
Series: Tree Bros Adventures [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/937122
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Broken Pieces Of People In a Dumpster On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my WIPs for way longer than I care to admit. It's not very interesting, but it's the first work I did that included Cass, and they're a recurring OC I use in my DEH stories, so. Yeah.
> 
> I'm going to sleep now. It's 3 AM. I'm tired.

Let it be known, Jared Kleinman doesn't like parties.

It might sound ironic, coming from the guy who proclaims to be so popular and so involved with social events, but he's not that much into ear-drilling music and mind-numbing alcohol. Sensory overload is a very real thing and he's already very close to his limit. Too much noise. Too many people pushing him around like a goddamn puppet.

"It's not even a good party," he grumbles into his plastic cup.

It's a big fat lie. It's the best party of the fall, courtesy of Jake, and every teen in town seems to be there - and yet, somehow, Jared still can't get his hands on anyone he knows. The plastic cracks between his teeth and he makes a conscious effort to let go of it. Ugh. _Whatever_. He might as well sneak up the back, it's not like anyone would notice.

He tried hiding in the bathroom at some point, but some guy in there had started yelling about periods and this isn't a mental image he wants to have right now. Upstairs is just a no-go, so here he is. Cramped in a corner of the living room filled to the brim with costumed -or not- teenagers, with a red cup of... what even is in his hand ? He doesn't know. He doesn't want to know. There's a headache stating to build up behind his eyes.

The music grows louder. He winces. He doesn't even like Ed Sheeran.

His eyes suddenly catch the glint of short platine hair moving towards the kitchen. _Oh, hell yes_. Maybe the evening isn't totally ruined. He pushes through the crowd with some difficulty, but eventually reaches the relative heaven that is the kitchen island and looks around him.

"Cass !" he finally calls, unable to find who he's desperately looking for. A hand lands comfortably on the back of his neck followed by a peck on his cheek, and he knows he's been found.

"Heya babe," a voice purrs in his ear, and _God_ isn't this so much more pleasant than the deafening beat of bass. He turns his head, his glasses knocking against something, and Cassidy takes a step back with a chuckle, rubbing their cheekbone and stealing his cracked plastic cup.

"I didn't know you were coming," Jared admits honestly, still a little surprised to find his partner in crime in a place with more than ten people in it.

"Yeah, well, you said you'd go, and then Evan had this weird moment of misplaced courage and decided to go and Connor said he'd give it a shot, so they're probably in here somewhere. Also Zoe and Alana are having their date night, and no one is online to play with me, and-"

As they ramble, Jared looks them up and down, eyes widening comically as he finally takes in the weird outfit. That's definitely one of his shirts, the one with the swearing duck, but the pants are... something else.

"What the hell are you wearing ?" he laughs, and Cass takes the opportunity to make a perfect split on the kitchen tiles, accompanied by jazz hands - as much jazz hands as the half-full cup allows them to do. One of the closest kids whistle and Jared makes a point of ignoring him, helping instead his better half off the floor.

"Aren't they neat ?" Cass grins, lifting a leg after the other to show the terrible cloth. "Admit it, this is the worst pants you've ever seen," they add, delighted.

"Oh, definitely. Who thought it might be a good idea to create... shoepants ? Pant-shoes ? What even _are_ those ?"

"Shants !" a girl yells helpfully from the other side of the kitchen island, and Jared makes snapping fingers in her direction.

"Perfect," he nods. "Also, as your boyfriend it is my duty to tell you that you totally rock it."

"Awww, thanks," the other replies. "It's absolutely not comfortable."

Jared pulls at the shoelaces climbing all the way up their waist, tugging Cass towards him and pressing their lips together in a bruising kiss. More whistles, this time from all around the kitchen, but Jared can't care less.

"It's a good thing you showed up," he declares once they separate to breathe. "This party is lame as fuck."

Cass raises an eyebrow, downs Jared's drink in one big gulp and playfully smacks their mouths together, sharing the last taste of acohol and sugar.

"You don't wanna dance ?" they tease, because they know that, if there's one thing Jared hates more than being wrong, it's moving awkwardly in a moving mass of sweating bodies.

Jared grimaces and nods at the back door.

"What do you say we just get out of there ?"

They push through the crowd once more and crack the door open, the patio way less occupied than the inside of the house. The porch lights up and two pairs of eyes blink owlishly at them.

Connor frowns and raises a hand to shelter his eyes from the glaring porch light, and Evan's head snaps away as soon as he recognizes the people at the doorstep. _Talk about the devil_ , Jared thinks, before Evan sniffs loudly and hides his face in embarrassment.

"Are you okay ?" Jared asks, because he's stupid and maybe a little drunk.

"Panic attack ?" Cassidy asks, because they're smart and definitely sober.

Evan rubs his sleeve across his face and, yep, that's definitely Connor's sweatshirt on him. Jared huffs quietly and closes the door behind him. Cass goes to sit on Evan's other side and gently knocks their shoulders together. Connor's glare turns toward the decorated back lawn. He's clearly annoyed about something and Jared is definitely not drunk enough to piss him off willingly. He clears his throat.

"So clearly this evening has been kind of a bust for everyone here," he says, and everyone looks back at him. "I'm thinking McDonald's."

Evan lets out a loud, surprised snort. Cass and Connor exchange a considering look above his head. Jared claps his hands and jumps down the couple of stairs.

"That's settled then. Let's go, folks, let's go !"

Evan shrugs and gets on his feet, followed by the other two. They slowly make their way down the street, right into the avenue, Jared leading the group with a happy -definitely not sober- bounce in his step, followed by Evan still coming down from his attack and Connor holding his hand, looking at Cassidy up and down with vaguely concerned confusion.

"What the fuck ?" he mumbles with a pointed look at the pink abomination covering their legs.

Cass only giggles and Jared pushes open the door of the fast-food restaurant. It's nearly empty, which is expected for a friday night at half past ten, except for a couple of students cramming in one of the booths and a young woman with two young children at the other end of the room.

Connor lets go of Evan's hand and starts walking to the counter backwards, facing the rest of them.

"What do you all want ?"

"Cheese burger," Cass calls, dropping themself in the nearest booth.

"Two large fries... and a coke," Jared adds, feeling his pockets for change to give Connor.

"You keep those hands right out of your pockets, Kleinman, I won't accept any refunds tonight," Connor warns, then turns to his boyfriend. "Ev ?"

"As many chicken nuggets as you're legally allowed to get," the blond teen sighs and rubs the back of his neck, looking a little better but still somehow dead on his feet.

Connor nods and walks away, and Jared wiggles in his seat to produce a deck of cards from the depths of his pockets. Evan's eyes illuminate.

"Why would you bring your Cards Against Humanity at a party ?"

"Who knows," Jared grins, thumbing through the cards, "Maybe I was hoping to spend some time with my nerdy gang instead of having to socialize with people I don't know... or even care about."

"Probably not the evening you were expecting to have," Evan replies weakly, only smiling when Cass bumps their "shants" with his off-brand knickers.

"Nah, I can picture it," they say, winking at Jared. "Almost eleven PM on a week day, in a McD's with my favorite people in the world, waiting for a greasy and honestly not so good but definitely needed burger..."

"You're so weird, babe," Jared snorts, and Cass raises an eyebrow at him, a little smile playing on their lips.

"Am I wrong, though ? Aren't we having a good time ?"

"...We've got Cards Against Humanity," Evan replies, nodding a little, like he just got in with the joke. "I count this as a win."

Connor soon rejoins them, armed with two trays full of food and drinks, pushing the cards at the end of the end of the table. He grabs a wrap and sits next to Evan, pushing him in the back of the booth.

"Deal the cards," he tells Jared.

They spend a good part of the next hour filling themselves with fried food and laughing their heads off at the increasingly absurd combinations they get. Evan seems to have all but forgotten about his panic attack. Connor stopped stealing worried glances at him a while ago. Cassidy has their legs thrown across Jared's lap and is stealing his fries when they think no one is watching.

Jared is having the time of his life.

By the time midnight rolls around the corner, the food has been eaten, the stomachs filled and the cards forgotten. Evan and Jared are discussing about the latest MMORPG Jared joined ; Connor is quietly falling asleep, arms crossed on his chest ; Cassidy is scrolling idly through their Twitter feed.

"Holy shit," they gasp suddenly, the phone almost slipping from their hands. "Guys, you have to see this."

They show the smartphone to Evan, whose face scrunches up in confusion and then turns very pale, and the young Hansen pulls out his own phone to open Instagram.

"What ? Hey, what's going on ?" Jared asks, getting the screen shoved in his face in reply. "Is that Jenna's Twitter ?"

Connor, on the other side of the table, shakes himself awake with a grumble, peering above Evan's shoulder to watch the story playing on his phone, before his eyes pop out almost comically.

"Fucking hell," he breathes, at the same time Evan blurts out a very loud "Jesus fucking Christ."

"#RichSetAFire," Jared reads out loud, eyebrows knotted in confusion. "Rich ? Richard Goranski ? Tiny, red hair, Big Bitch Energy ?"

"This is crazy," Evan comments, skipping through the latest updates as Connor is pulling up Facebook. "Apparently Jake is at the hospital ? _What ?_ I'm calling my mom," he adds and stands on the bench, stepping over Connor to leave the booth.

"Jenna's version is changing with every new tweet," Cassidy sighs after a few moments, "and Chloe and Brooke are taking over the story. This is getting out of hands."

"Are we even sure Jenna was there ?" Connor asks, eyes skimming through the posts.

" _Everyone_ was there," Jared replies. "It's the biggest party of the fall."

"Good thing we left early," Connor says again, somberly, scooting over as Evan comes back to them.

"So Mom said there was a fire at the party, and someone called an ambulance because people got hurt ? Smoke poisoning, mostly, but someone broke their legs jumping from the first floor, and Rich got badly burned ? There was a lot of noise, I didn't get everything."

"I'm DMing Brooke and Chloe," Cassidy replies. "They're both saying they got all the info from Jenna, so unless Jenna has a source we don't know about, it's very probable she was at the party and actually saw what happened."

Connor's phone starts vibrating. He picks up the incoming call, putting it on speaker.

"Zoe ?"

"Connor oh my fucking God tell me you aren't at Jake's party," his sister shrills, Alana's voice coming muffled and incomprehensible in the background.

"We were there but we left. What the hell happened ? Where are you ?"

"Jake's house," Alana says, clearer, probably having gotten closer to the phone, "Everyone is freaking out, there's a rumor saying that Rich set the fire ?"

"Find Jenna," Jared instructs, leaning over the table. "Apparently she saw everything. All we know is that she's been broadcasting the event all over social medias."

"Will do," Alana says, and there's a crackle as the phone goes back to Zoe.

"Where are you guys ?" the younger Murphy asks.

"McDonald's on Stetson Avenue," Evan says, yet another story from Jenna playing on loop on his phone.

"Don't move, we'll meet you there."

Connor ends the phone call, deflating a little in his seat. "Well. That was a hell of a night."

"Hellfire, more like," Jared snorts, and gets rewarded by a small kick from Cass.

"People got hurt, Jared," Evan half-glares at his best friend.

"Sorry, sorry."

They spend a couple of minutes in silence, swapping phones whenever they find something actually important.

"Did someone check on Michael ?" Connor asks, slightly concerned for his smoking buddy. "He was acting weird all week."

"I think he was in the bathroom for most of the night," Alana says as she steps inside the fastfood, Zoe hot on her heels. "He was outside when we called, though."

"Hey guys," Cass greets. "Welcome to the weirdest after party in the history of this town. We probably have a couple of fries left."

"Forget the fries," Zoe blurts, pushing her brother and Evan further down the bench, "Jenna was deep into her live-tweeting and we couldn't get anything out of her."

"Okay, the good news are," Evan says, "There are only two people hurt, according to my mom. The others have inhaled smoke, but they're fine."

"And the bad news ?" Connor prompts him.

"Uh... One of the people hurt is Rich, and he's... very fucked up. The other seems to be Jake, and they can't join his parents-"

"Christine told me his parents were on the run for money laundering-"

"Where is Jenna ?"

"Alana, you gotta take this to the administration."

"What the fuck is going on in this school ?"

"I swear to God it gets weirder every year-"

"Okay !" Jared exclaims, loudly, and everyone stops.

Jared is good at this, to divert the general attention from the problem. Usually, it's more in a "ignore the problem until it goes away" kind of strategy, like when Connor was at the hospital and Evan was freaking out with his email thing and Jared somehow got roped into this, and- Yeah. But right now, as he looks around the table, he knows his ragtag group of friends needs to relax and forget a little about it.

"I think we know enough about it," he explains, making a show of shoving his phone in his pants. "Nobody died, we have a pretty clear idea of what happened. Maybe we should just... I dunno. Chill."

Connor is the first one to break the staring.

"Yeah," he sighs and rubs his eyes, his face just a little more sunken in than usual, which is pretty telling. "I'm seriously falling asleep. I'm going home."

"I'm coming with you," Zoe says, eyes drooping. "Too much excitement in one night."

"Sounds good," Evan sighs, already typing - probably telling his mom he's about to go home so she doesn't worry.

"I have a long day tomorrow anyway," Alana hums as she gets up and dusts her skirt, then leans over to kiss Zoe soundly. "I'll call you tomorrow, Zo."

"Wanna hang out a little ?" Cass nudges Jared's arm. "We can watch a movie or something."

"Sure," he says. "See you around, kids, don't spend all night on your phones !"

Connor grumbles something in his direction but he's already out the door, Cass besides him.

It's quiet, if it weren't for the occasional car or the groups of trick-or-treating children running from a house to the other. Jared thinks about his little sister, who's probably sitting at home under a blanket with a horror book, the cat not very far from her. Not much of a social butterfly, this one.

Again, Jared gets it : sensory overload is a bitch.

"I made up my mind," Cass says as they walk up the Kleinman's garage alley, "Shawn of the Dead, or What We Do In The Shadows. What do you think ?"

"Halloween themed movie night, nice. Zombies or vampires, tough question, though."

"How about both ?" Cass asks again, leaning sleepily against him when he stops to open the front door. "I don't think I can walk home tonight."

"Fine by me," Jared smiles smugly. "But you know my mom is going to look at you with That Look tomorrow morning."

"Noooo," they whine, muffled by Jared's shirt, but follow him inside. "Just because I got loud _once_ -"

"I love you," Jared says, and he can feel them smile against his shoulder.

"Hmmm. I know."

He snorts and pull them down the hall, towards his bedroom. They know both movies by heart by now, but Jared is not complaining. Cass has shed off their binder at some point and is blinking blearily at the computer screen, flush against his side. It's glorious. He gets to cuddle with one of his favorite people of all time in a set of (almost) clean sheets, after what seems to turn into the event of the year.

Let it be known, Jared Kleinman doesn't like parties, _but he sure as fuck likes coming back from them_.


End file.
